What's behind Santa Ana council maneuvers?

Feb. 2, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Santa Ana City Manager Paul Walters, left, and City Attorney Sonia Carvalho, right, listen as Manuel Pena, a supporter of Walters, speaks to the Santa Ana City Council in December. Walters has submitted his resignation. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Santa Ana Councilman Sal Tinajero, left, Mayor Miguel Pulido, center, and Councilman David Benavides, right, listen as audience members step up to the microphone and praise City Manager Paul M. Walters at a special meeting Dec. 27. Supporters expressed concern that the meeting was part of an effort to get rid of Walters. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido during a 2012 council meeting. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides during a 2012 meeting. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Paul Walters gets a hug from a supporter before going into a closed session of the Santa Ana City Council held in December. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Jose Solorio is a Rancho Santiago Community College District trustee, a former Assemblyman and a former member of the Santa Ana City Council. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Santa Ana City Manager Paul Walters, left, and City Attorney Sonia Carvalho, right, listen as Manuel Pena, a supporter of Walters, speaks to the Santa Ana City Council in December. Walters has submitted his resignation. SAM GANGWER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA It's an opportunity for change, and a new vision. A threshold moment when the community can seek an exceptional leader to help guide it toward excellence.

But it won't come without challenges, and for some Santa Ana residents, an effort to regain their trust.

Santa Ana officials announced last week the resignation of City Manager Paul M. Walters. On Monday,they will meet in closed session to deal with the appointment of an interim and the "dismissal/release" of Walters. The council will take up "any final issues that may need to be resolved," City Attorney Sonia R. Carvalho said.

Walters' resignation followed weeks of citizen speculation about what was going on at City Hall. Just six months after hiring former police chief Walters as city manager, the City Council began a series of closed-door performance evaluations with him, culminating in a 6-1 dismissal vote on Jan. 22.

"In order for a city to thrive and do well, it needs to have the right people in the right position both for the current season and for the future of that organization," Councilman David Benavides said. "Paul stepped in at a time where we needed someone to bring stability after our long-term city manager retired, and he helped us through that season. As we look toward the future of the city, it was timely for us to act. The question remained as to whether it continued to be the best fit."

Some residents saw the move as a power play by a council majority flexing its muscle to spite the mayor, Miguel Pulido – the lone vote for Walters. Others saw it as more nuanced, a chance for what some call the "Santa Ana spring" to provide new direction for the city.

Much is at stake for Santa Ana: its financial health, its quality of life and its credibility.

Unemployment hit 15 percent during the economy's slump, and jobs have been slow to rebound. The city, which had been on the brink of bankruptcy, balanced its current budget, but after gaining labor concessions and contracting for fire services with the Orange County Fire Authority. Like other California municipalities, it's grappling with the state over the dissolution of redevelopment, including a state demand for millions of dollars.

The way community activist Tish Leon sees it, the council has been engaged in a power struggle, with a majority facing off against Mayor Pulido.

She said she agrees with the need for change, but doesn't think the council went about it correctly.

The council should have kept Walters in place while it conducted a nationwide search for a replacement, she said. An interim appointment, especially one from in-house, might end up with the permanent appointment just as did Walters, who had been named the interim city manager in May 2011.

"Miguel convinced everyone to keep Walters, so they did," Leon said. "Who is to say that won't happen again?"

Alfredo Amezcua, a lawyer and facilitator of a group called the Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government, said the city should have completed its national search after former City Manager David Ream left and Walters took the interim slot.

"Ream was a product of the '40s and '50s," he said. "But in the last 10 to 15 years, the demographics have changed."

He sees a council that is divided.

"I get the feeling that they want to play a role in developing a vision for the city, but I'm not sure they've taken steps to make it happen," he said. "If they bring a new person to the table, with a new perspective, a new vision-holder so to speak, it would be helpful."

Jose Solorio, a college trustee who has served on the council and in the state Assembly, said it's positive that the council wants to become engaged in decision-making.

"They haven't agreed with everything that the mayor wanted to do in the past, and they're exercising their vote and their influence," he said. "It's just as important for the council to try to remain focused on policy, in comparison to just internal disputes over power."

Many residents want answers. Jose Alfredo Hernandez, an attorney and president of the Santa Ana Unified board, took his concerns about the need to retain Walters to the council, where he spoke as a resident.

"Alliances have formed on the council, and they've been trying to oust the mayor the last couple of elections," he said. "When it didn't go their way, they turned and went after his closest ally, Paul Walters.

"I don't have a clear understanding of why they chose to remove him – the same people who appointed him and credited him with helping the city avoid financial disaster," he said. "As residents of the city, we deserved an explanation."

"Many people are trying to oversimplify it," said Santa Ana resident Phil Bacerra, a land-use consultant, "saying that it's just the council acting against the mayor. I don't see it completely that way."

In the past weeks, some residents have said the city needed to make a break with a past dominated by Pulido and Ream, who had worked together for years.

"You'd go to the city manager and Miguel, and that's how things worked," Bacerra said. "Some of these council members are taking their role seriously, and advocating for more involvement in the process – and not just being in the background."

Like others, he appreciates Walters' contributions, but looks forward to a national recruitment effort.

"There are arguments to be made that the city needs someone with institutional knowledge," he said. "What we're seeing with this movement are pushes toward new ideas and higher accomplishments. Let's go bigger and better. The city is going that way."

The City Council closed session begins at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4 at Council Chamber, 22 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana. The open session follows at 5:45 p.m. Call 714-647-6520.

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